California Faculty Association (CFA) has announced they have reached a tentative agreement ending CFA’s systemwide strike walkout that began January 22. The agreement was made on day one of the planned five-day strike.
This means CFA members will need to vote on the union agreement in the following weeks. If passed, the CSU Board of Trustees will need to approve it. CSU faculty members are now expected to return to their work assignments on Jan. 23.
“The collective action of so many lecturers, professors, counselors, librarians, and coaches over these last eight months forced CSU management to take our demands seriously. This Tentative Agreement makes major gains for all faculty at the CSU,” CFA President Charles Toombs said in the CFA press release.
CFA press release said the tentative agreement includes:
- Five percent general salary increase for all faculty retroactive to July 1, 2023.
- Five percent general salary increase for all faculty on July 1, 2024, (contingent on the state not reducing base funding to the CSU).
- Raising the salary floor for our lowest-paid faculty in salary Ranges: A and B: $3,000 increase in the minimum pay for Ranges: A and B retroactive to July 1, 2023; an additional $3,000 increase in the minimum pay for Range A on July 1, 2024.
- Salary Step Increase (SSI) of 2.65% for 2024-25.
- Increasing paid parental leave from six to 10 weeks.
- Increasing protection for faculty who have dealings with police by providing for a union rep in those interactions.
- Improving access to gender-inclusive restrooms and lactation spaces, and a pathway to monitor issues of access.
- Providing support for lecturer engagement in service work.
- Extending the current contract for 2022-24 one year to June 30, 2025.
California State Bakersfield (CSUB) was one of the 23 CSU campuses that participated in the strike.
“As a part-time lecturer at CSUB, some of the issues in dispute really did not impact me the way it did other faculty. But I’ve been a pro-labor loyalist my entire adult life. I was on the team that negotiated three contracts at The Bakersfield Californian and served in various union leadership positions with The Newspaper Guild. So I was happy to support my fellow faculty and walk the picket line with them,” CSUB’s instructor John Harte said.
CSU stated more details regarding the agreement will be provided in the upcoming days.
“I am extremely pleased and deeply appreciative that we have reached common ground with CFA that will end the strike immediately,” CSU Chancellor Mildred García said in the CSU press release. “The agreement enables the CSU to fairly compensate its valued, world-class faculty while protecting the university system’s long-term financial sustainability. With the agreement in place, I look forward to advancing our student-centered work — together — as the nation’s greatest driver of social mobility and the pipeline fueling California’s diverse and educated workforce.”
